Terms : Hide Images
| 9090910156 | Red Herring | Something, especially a clue, that is or is intended to be misleading or distracting. If I were to arrive home past curfew, I would distract my parents by talking about the weather. | 0 | |
| 9090910157 | Ad Hominem | (Of an argument or reaction) directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining. If a lawyer were to argue that his client should not be held accountable. | 1 | |
| 9096479925 | Faulty (false) Analogy | Consists in assuming that because two things are alike in one or more respects, they are necessarily alike in some other respect. Saying that people who cannot go without their coffee every morning are no better than alcoholics. | 2 | |
| 9096492442 | Straw Man | An intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument. If a teacher were to discuss evolution and state that all things evolve, a student would respond that he or she couldn't accept that humans came from bugs. | 3 | |
| 9096520811 | Either/or dilemma | Something is falsely claimed to be an "either/or" situation, when in fact there is at least one additional option. If someone were to say that I don't spend a lot of money, so I must be saving a lot, but in reality I just don't earn a lot of money. | 4 | |
| 9096533084 | Hasty generalization | A faulty generalization by reaching an inductive generalization based on insufficient evidence. Essentially making a rushed conclusion without considering all of the variables. If a girl were to be dumped by her boyfriend and decided that all boys are mean. | 5 | |
| 9096548327 | Circular reasoning | A logical fallacy in which the reasoner begins with what they are trying to end with. The components are often logically valid because if the premises are ture, the conclusion must be true. I would argue to my parents that I deserve a later curfew, so I should be allowed to stay but until 11 pm. | 6 | |
| 9096563755 | Non sequitur | A conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. If I were to say "My refrigerator is acting up. I better read that book by Friday." | 7 | |
| 9096574039 | Slippery slope | An idea or course of action which will lead to something unacceptable, wrong, or disastrous. If Lori Vogel were to say, "if we let this child bring in the permission slip late, there is no reason to set a deadline for anything else." | 8 | |
| 9096586135 | Scare tactic | A strategy using fear to influence the public's reaction; coercing a favorable response by preying upon the audience's fears. If a student were to tell a teacher, "my dad is the school's biggest donor, so you should really reconsider that C you gave me on my latest paper." | 9 | |
| 9096595527 | Bandwagon | A persuasive technique and a type of propaganda through which a writer persuades his readers, so that the majority could agree with the argument of the writer. If a commercial argues that "everyone" likes a specific brand of toothpaste. | 10 | |
| 9096607029 | Post hoc | A fallacy in which one event is said to be the cause of a later event simply because it occurred earlier. If I were to sneeze right when the power went out and argue that my sneeze did something to make the power go off. | 11 | |
| 9096614785 | Poisoning the well | An informal logical fallacy where irrelevant adverse information about a a target is preemptively presented to an audience, with the intention of discrediting or ridiculing everything that the target person is about to say. If I were to say to a friend, "Oh, you are seeing Dr. Johnson? He gives me the creeps, so watch out." | 12 | |
| 9096640575 | False dichotomy | There are not other alternatives, and the alternatives do not overlap. If someone were to say,"you can either stay at your current job, or quit and live in poverty." | 13 | |
| 9096655577 | Appeal to false authority | Using an authority as evidence in your argument when the authority is not really an authority on the facts relevant to the argument. If I were to say, "my accountant said that within the next 90 days the President will be impeached. We should take this claim seriously." | 14 | |
| 9096665423 | Loaded question | A question that contains a controversial or unjustified assumption. If I were to ask Mr. Trump, "how many school shootings should we tolerate before we change the gun lawas?" | 15 | |
| 9096672458 | Appeal to ignorance | When you argue that your conclusion must be true, because there is no evidence against it. If a judge were to say, "since you haven't been able to prove your innocence, I must assume you're guilty." | 16 | |
| 9096682986 | Faulty causality | Mistakes a correlation for causation, by assuming that because one thing follows another it was caused by it. If someone were to say, "I stole the towel form the hotel. They expect people to take them." | 17 | |
| 9096692958 | Equivocation | When a key term or phrase in an argument is used in an ambiguous way, with one meaning in one portion of the argument and the other meaning in another portion of the argument. To say, "all trees have barks. Therefore, every dog is a tree." | 18 | |
| 9096704061 | Begging the question | The writer or speaker assumes the statement under examination to be true. "I have the right to say whatever I choose because I have the right to say whatever I please." | 19 | |
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